Search - Various Artists :: Sweet Talker

Contains two Richard Thompson gems not available elsewhere

woburnmusicfan | Woburn, MA United States | 06/26/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This is a soundtrack album by Richard Thompson for the sank-without-a-trace 1990 movie "Sweet Talker", starring Bryan Brown as a con man. There are two fantastic rockers here that rank with Thompson's best work: "Put Your Trust in Me" and "To Hang a Dream On". Only a couple of the other tracks, including the melancholy "False or True", have vocals. This is a soundtrack, so much of the album is instrumental soundtrack music, with styles ranging from orchestral ("The Dune Ship") to Fairport-style folk ("Roll Up") to soft jazz ("Beachport") to "Harry's Theme", an instrumental reprise of "Put Your Trust in Me" that I can only describe as a bluegrass polka. Four of the tracks were co-written with keyboardist Peter Filleul, including the instrumental "Persuasion", which Split Enz' Tim Finn wrote lyrics for years later. The musicians include Dave Mattacks, Simon Nicol, Pete Zorn, Christine Collister, John Kirkpatrick, and Chris Leslie.(1=poor 2=mediocre 3=pretty good 4=very good 5=phenomenal)"

3 1/2 Stars: Enjoyable Thompson Soundtrack Recording

D.C. Hanoy | Athens, Georgia | 02/28/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This should please most Thompson fans, though it shouldn't be considered essential. There are a couple of strong, almost mainstream-sounding tracks, but most of the album is made up of instrumental music, some of which could be described as Gaelic Blugrass. Not a throwaway, and you may find that it grows on you over time. I certainly listen to it more than some of his weaker albums, and there are several tracks here that can't be found on other Thompson releases.



Of interest to Crowded House/Finn Brothers fans: "Persuasion" is the original instrumental version of a song that Tim Finn later added lyrics to for his album 'Before And After.' Thompson must have approved as he now performs the song live (with son Teddy) with Finn's lyrics.

"